Are you passionate about working in mental health rehabilitation? If so, we have the perfect role for you!
We are excited to be recruiting into a senior Occupational Therapist role to work for our Alliance Rehabilitation Team (ART), which provides multi-disciplinary support for adults aged 18-65 years who are either residing in a supported living scheme / residential placement or are requiring rehabilitation support in the community. The successful candidate will work alongside the wider rehabilitative team, the Lambeth Living Well Alliance Partners and the voluntary sector to support our service-users to recover, stay well and maximise their independence.
ART provides nursing, care co-ordination, specialist assessment and rehabilitation services for service-users living in the Borough of Lambeth. As the ART’s Occupational Therapist, you would be joining an experienced and well-established multi-disciplinary team and would play a key role in supporting the engagement and recovery of our service-users, as well as promoting a collaborative, safe, person-centred and recovery-focused approach to patient care. You would also be supported by the Lambeth Head OT and a supportive team of SLaM OT’s working across the borough, in addition to the wider SLaM OT network across the Trust. The role is incredibly rewarding, giving you a chance to truly hone in on your holistic OT skills and make a meaningful difference to the lives of our service-users.
We are looking for someone who is motivated, creative, hard-working, passionate and adaptive, with excellent communication skills, experience working in the mental health field and a passion for mental health care! The successful candidate will need to have skills in providing both group and individual therapeutic assessments and interventions, and will be expected to offer these services as required for service-users on the ART caseload or residing at The Turrets supported living scheme, to help inform a supportive and holistic MDT approach. Role duties may include carrying out Activities of Daily Living (ADL) assessments or bespoke OT assessments to help identify and address care and support needs, and to make recommendations to inform move-on plans.
The Turrets is a rehabilitation supported living setting, which is managed by the Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance partner Certitude and provides highly personalised support aimed at helping residents to recover, stay well, and successfully move on to less intensively supported living environments. The Turrets has a multi-professional team, including a psychologist and sessions provided by a consultant psychiatrist. The OT would complement this team with OT-focused input such as functional assessments, as well as supporting a program of therapeutic activities to support their wellbeing, development and recovery.
This is your chance to become a part of the internationally renowned South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, who provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK and serve a local population of 1.3 million people in south London, as well as specialist services for children and adults across the UK and beyond.
We are also part of an academic health sciences centre called ‘King's Health Partners’, which is a collaboration with King’s College London (KCL), and Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts. Our aim is to put research at the core of everything we do, so we can improve our clinical care and be a leader in improving health and wellbeing – locally, nationally and globally.
By joining our hard working and passionate team in Lambeth, you are joining a Trust who are dedicated to delivering high quality, person-centred care, and who are committed to embed and work alongside our Trust Values - Kindness, Respect, Together.
Your continuing professional development will be actively supported through supervision and clinical leadership from the Lambeth Head OT, as well as other senior members of the service, plus a range of additional opportunities such as OT peer support, CPD opportunities, and access to training from SLaM and the Quality Centre.
Main responsibilities of the job include, but are not limited to:
- To work autonomously to coordinate and deliver therapeutic interventions at The Turrets, in collaboration with service users and the multi-disciplinary team, using technical and creative skills to engage service-users in individual and group therapeutic activities, utilising graded activity as needed to help support their recovery
- To demonstrate a good understanding of OT theoretical models and be able to select and undertake appropriate Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions for service-users on the ART or Turrets caseload as required, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits, and enabling the client to maximise their performance in areas of self-maintenance, productivity and leisure.
- To identify and address occupationally focused goals in collaboration with the service user, taking into consideration the mental, physical, spiritual, psychological and social needs of the service user and ensuring that they are sensitive to age, culture, race, gender, ethnicity, social class, sexuality and disability.
- To hold a firm understanding and application of national guidance and legislation relating to Mental Health service provision in the context of well-being, recovery and social inclusion.
- To work in collaboration with service-users on the caseload to support their transition from the high support living scheme onto less intensively supported living environments, helping to promote and maximise their independence and support them to develop the skills needed for more independent living, maintaining a clear occupational focus to one’s work for the benefit of the service user
- To monitor and evaluate interventions through the use of outcome measures that provide clear evidence that occupational therapy has made a difference to people’s occupations and ultimately, support social inclusion and promote recovery.
- To play an active role in completing and contributing towards risk assessments within the multi-disciplinary team, including intervention planning, positive risk taking, discharge planning and making onward recommendations to support a person’s recovery.
- To be able to articulate the meaning and value of occupation in relationship to well-being, recovery and social inclusion to service users, carers, colleagues and external agencies, in order to represent, role model and be an ambassador for the OT profession
- To be an integrated team member within the MDT, contributing an occupational focus within patient care, including attending team meetings and working closely in collaboration with other key professionals such as nurses, psychologists, care co-ordinators and doctors, as well as voluntary sector colleague, residential settings and other external agencies, to ensure transitions are done in the most effective, least restrictive and most person-centred way.
- To provide induction, leadership, training, monitoring, co-ordination and supervision (where applicable) to any junior staff, students and volunteers within the setting
- To support the development of student OT’s by offering regular placements within the setting, as well supporting the learning of any other students who are part of the service
- To demonstrate and apply a high level of understanding of the effects of ill-health / disability, and provide appropriate advice, prescription of small aids / equipment and making recommendations for necessary adaptations to the client’s physical and social environment where applicable, to help support their independence
- To display a high level of understanding of the potential for distress caused by, and social and personal consequences of mental illness for the service user, their families, carers and support networks, and be able to offer support and signpost to resources / information as necessary
- To recognise and value our service-users as unique individuals, acknowledging the importance of maintaining their respect and dignity at all times and ensuring the care provided respects equality and diversity.
- To utilise a variety of communication skills to communicate effectively, empathetically and appropriately with colleagues, service-users, family, carers and external agencies in order to build effective professional relationships that support collaborative working
- To maintain clear, up-to-date and accurate electronic records for interactions and work completed within the service-user’s care, as per Professional and Trust standards / policies
- To consistently demonstrate appropriate professional behaviours and adhere to the RCOT Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, as well as national and local trust policies.
- To exercise good time management, punctuality and consistent, reliable attendance
- To demonstrate a commitment to ongoing personal development (CPD) through participating in relevant training and internal / external development opportunities as identified in clinical/ professional supervision and appraisals
- To demonstrate up-to-date knowledge and awareness of Safeguarding Principles and how to report any safeguarding concerns, as well as embed into practice the guidance from current trust, NHS and government infection control policies.
- To ensure all occupational therapy equipment / materials / stock are maintained and stored responsibly, provide advice on resources needed to facilitate group and individual activities / interventions, and maintain responsibility for managing any petty cash allowance for OT / activities
- To actively participate in local and trust-wide OT education / training, audits and service development, with the support of / in conjunction with senior staff / leads, to help contribute to the occupational therapy research agenda and embedding best practice
NOTE:
This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with the manager. This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements and any such changes will be discussed with the post holder.
The post holder is expected to comply with all relevant Trust policies, procedures and guidelines, including those relating to Equal Opportunities and Confidentiality of Information.
The post holder is responsible for ensuring that the work that they undertake is conducted in a manner which is safe to themselves and others, and for adhering to the advice and instructions on Health and Safety matters given by Manager(s). If post holders consider that a hazard to Health and Safety exists, it is their responsibility to report this to their manager(s).
The post holder is expected to comply with the appropriate Code(s) of Conduct associated with this post.
